May 4 (Reuters) – Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Monday warned against speculative moves in foreign exchange, after a brief jolt higher in the yen sparked speculation Tokyo had again intervened to support the currency.
“As I have said repeatedly, we will take decisive measures against speculative moves, in accordance with the statement signed between Japan and the United States last year,” Katayama told reporters after the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in Uzbekistan.
“Beyond that, I have nothing specific to add.”
Japan stepped into the market to support the yen last week, with money market data pointing to roughly $35 billion in spending behind a sudden 3% rally in the currency on Thursday.
The move on Monday was more modest, briefly pushing the yen from around 157.2 per dollar to just below 156 before it was quickly unwound, leaving it around 157.
The joint statement Japan and the U.S. issued in September said foreign exchange interventions should be reserved for combating excess volatility.
Japanese policymakers have cited the statement as giving them the right to intervene when the yen deviates from economic fundamentals and makes excessively big swings.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Paul Simao)
